KUCHING: The Pan Borneo Highway contractor working near St Teresa’s Catholic Church, Serian has been called on not to carry out construction work on Sunday mornings.

Democratic Action Party (DAP) Serian chairman Edward Andrew Luwak said construction of a proposed flyover, as part of the Pan-Borneo Highway project, is located just outside the church and has disrupted the usually peaceful Sunday services.

“St Teresa’s Church is the mother church of the Catholic Christian community in Serian and conducts two Sunday prayer services from 8am till about noon, which are attended by hundreds of worshippers,” he said in a statement yesterday.

“For the past weeks, Sunday church services have been disrupted by loud noises from heavy equipment at work, metres away from the church. Voices during the services are often drowned by the loud noises from the nearby construction site.”

He stressed the situation had gotten worse due to piling work.

Noting that the project is expected to take many more months, he urged the contractor to be more considerate by stopping construction on Sunday mornings.

“I am one of the worshippers at the church and I know how distractive the loud noises could be. So I urge the contractor to reschedule the work plan and to cease work outside the church just for the Sunday mornings,” he said.

“Good work time management would not deprive the progress of the project or delay in the implementation of the project.”